Years ago, a secret sign showed how a person had committed to meditation: a thin, red, cotton string (more general info on red strings here)worn around the neck. The string acted as a kind of calling card. You knew who was meditating, who was connected already with some teacher from those who had not yet heard the good news about Awakening.

Often tied in a tiny knot in the centre, the thread signifies the thread of life that connects the student to the teacher. It is considered medicine and is given out after the precious ceremonies central to all Tibetan meditations, the Wongkurs. (for a beginning exploration of Wongkur, go here)

The time when these strings, worn around the neck, were secret signs was over forty years ago. Now meditation systems, teachers, signs and symbols fill our eyes and the sounds of mantras come to us very easily especially over the internet.
How do we know what we're learning is correct? Take Chakras, for instance. Pictures of a meditating body with the chakras lit up from within abound

on free images from the internet. The trouble is, people believe chakras HAVE a colour.
Not true. Chakras are energy centres that resonate within the vibrations of the Nadis, those psychic branches that may be imagined looking like the branches of trees in November here in Canada. The twigs and ends may not touch but reach toward each other. These Nadis carry the energy of Prajna, the basic energy force of everything, everywhere.
This is Tibetan teaching: Prajna, which is energy, collects in Nadis, which collect Prajna until Chakras develop.

Chakras may be thought of as wheels, or flowers. And they are horizontal. That's right. Not vertical, like buttons on your shirt, but horizontal, like when you imagine your breath entering your lungs and you remember to include the back of your lungs too! 3D and horizontal, the chakras have at their centre a hollow tube which runs through the centre of your body. That's the channels about which I'll write more later.
For now, just get this information: Chakras are not any particular colour. The colours seen frequently when Chakras are depicted are there to help us visualize the chakras.

Here's the most important point: when you meditate, if you discover say a light blue colour coming from the area of your chest where the ribs meet, or maybe a bit higher, you are likely seeing a colour representation of your heart chakra at that moment.

Don't struggle to get that colour another time. Just note it down in your notes at the end of your meditation.
What? You don't take notes? Stay tuned for the way to review and take notes after meditation and why this is important.